He's Marvelous, He's Curious George

I took Grammy and the kids to Pittsburgh for an overnight this past week to meet Curious George. They have a special (ends Oct 3) exhibit at the Pittsburgh Children's Musuem (which is a kick a$$ place for kids to explore) and on Wednesday and Saturday, George himself makes an appearance.

Let me tell you.....he was the cutest thing. EVER. The twinadoes ran into his arms and just kept hugging him. Nolan would not let go! They gave him kisses and hugs, high fives, and snuggles. It took everything in me not to run up there and hug him too!

The day before the musuem, we made a stop at the Duquesne Incline. It was Grammy's first time and she was a little nervous. My sweet boy made sure to hold onto her so she wouldn't be afraid.

The kids were   a lot, wound up when we got out of the pool at the hotel and my mom could see that I needed to get away. IKEA was only 10 minutes away and I was running out to pick up dinner so a quick stop for some retail therapy was in order. I got some frames for some of my photography and a few kitchen gadgets, but the hour alone was worth a million dollars. Thanks, Mom!
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So that rounded out our summer of adventures and bridged the gap to fall. Stick around and see what kind of mischief we get into in the next few months.

Pymatuning

It's been a long time since I've been to the Spillway at Pymatuning Lake. Just to give you an idea, my parents took my friend, Heidi and I, and while we were there we bought matching neon half-shirts that had "Pymatuning Lake" written like paint splatter.

Yes, it was the 80's.

Grammy was on vacation this week, so we decided to do a little road trip. I emptied the freezer of all the old bread I had been saving and loaded up the kids and their potty (can I say it one more time, potty training SUCKS) and off we went.

I have no memory of the spillway (and really only remember the shirt because there is a picture of Heidi and I wearing them), so it was like I was there for the first time too.

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The Three Amigos

The twinadoes had a good time throwing their "loads" (Nolan word for "loaf") of bread and were done in about 4 minutes.

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Feeding "loads" of bread

My turn! My turn! My turn!

I decided to follow the compass on the car (mental note, add GPS to Xmas list), and explore a bit. We ended up in a little town called Linesville. Think main street USA on a smaller scale. We had lunch at an awesome little place called Rebecca's and then hit a couple of shops before heading out.

Coloring at Rebecca's. One of the few times he is not smiling is when he is concentrating.

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I love this girl with all my heart.

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The Main Street USA thing

We took mainly back roads home and ended up in familiar territory which happened to be near the wineries. After a stop at a roadside fruit market, I decided my mom and I deserved a glass of wine. I know Debonne has lots of open space for little ones to burn off energy PLUS they have a brewery so I knew I could bring Daddy home a treat. It was more like dinner since I wasn't home to cook, but I didn't hear him complaining!

The roadside market happened to have a John Deere. Nolan asked the man, "why is your John Deere H He knows all the models) hiding in the corn?"

We got our wine and got comfy outside while the kids put on a tumbling show on the outdoor stage. We were the only people outside, so it was quiet and we could hear the music that was being piped inside. <> 

Ladies & Gentlemen, the Tumbling Twinadoes!


Now, call me kooky (as I'm sure my husband will), but approximately how many songs have there been made from 1944-2000? Millions, right? As my mom and I were sitting there enjoying the lovely fall day and the kids were having a rager, my Dad's favorite song came on. Well, one of his favorites, he had 5 that I know he LOVED.

I don't see this as a coinicidence. 

I like to think that somewhere in the heavens and through fate, that song played for us. I think it was my Dad's way of letting us know he was with us, just like he was when he took me to Pymatuning so many years ago.

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Is that you, Dad?

Peer Influence

In the last couple of weeks my kids were around other kids that were mouthy, didn't listen to their parents, and were just mean-spirited.

Now my kids are exhibiting those behaviors.

The last week has been pretty rough.

HELP!!!!!

Labor Day

Hard to believe it's the wind-down to summer already! We were just getting started. My favorite (and the twinadoes by default) holiday is coming up: Halloween! Our October is packed with fun stuff to do at the Metroparks, libraries, and within the community.

We are having some adventures this weekend, so stay tuned. The crowd pleasure will be the special seats at the airshow. We had these tickets last year and it was better than awesome!!! Can't wait to be up close and personal (with a new camera lens) again this year.

Be safe out there, whatever you do.

Wordless Wednesday